I was working on a Dell Inspiron 531 this morning, trying to update the Award BIOS from version 1.0.3 to the latest version, 1.0.13.
Dell Inspiron 530s Desktop Computer (Intel Pentium dual-core processor E2160 1.80GHz, 250GB HDD, 1GB RAM) ddcwfc2 Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop Computer (Intel Celeron 450, 320GB HDD, 2GB) ddcbdax. Run the BIOS update utility from Windows environment. Double click the Icon on your desktop labeled 5301018.EXE. The Update BIOS window appears; Click the Update button. The message Updating BIOS. Please DO NOT POWER OFF! BIOS update will begin. After BIOS update complete, the WinFlash window appears to. Dell Inspiron 530 BIOS 'Exchange' even possible? I had just restored a Dell 530 PC Desktop for a classroom, and I had a finicky time with it attempting to boot from USB as it had not only set it to 'Floppy' First, but also had apparently done some weird permissions issue from having one of the Settings in the SATA section enabled.
Dell 530s Bios
The computer originally shipped with 32-bit Windows Vista.
I decided to give 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate a whirl, and see how it all goes. Besides a known issue regarding Away Mode (detailed and solved here), it works pretty darn well.
However, I was unable to flash the BIOS. At least, not as easily as the Dell Support site describes it.
As instructed on the Dell Support site, I downloaded the appropriate .exe installation file for version 1.0.13, saved it to the Desktop and ran it.
According to Dell, clicking on this file should open the update utility. However, all it did was create a file, winflash.sys alongside the .exe file that I downloaded.
I’m not alone; this has happened to more than a few people. And most seem to be using a 64-bit version of Windows 7.
Some failed suggestions for solving the problem include:
- Close all programs, as the installation instructions state
- Move the file to the C: directory and run it from there
- Move the file to the C:windowssystem32 directory and run it from there
- Run the .exe from a Command Prompt window
- Run the .exe from a Command Prompt window, Run as Administrator
Solution:
In my experience, the only thing that worked was to boot the computer using a live CD-based version of Windows XP via UBCD4win, based on the ingenious Ultimate Boot CD program.
I booted into the UBCD4win (which ran Windows XP, in 32-bit mode). I then ran the .exe file, and successfully flashed the BIOS to version 1.0.13. BAM!
Rather than rehash the directions to make a UBCD4win, there is a link to their website below.
NOTE: Creating this bootable CD using UBCD will require the installation disk for the 32-bit version of Windows XP, and can take a bit of time to create and burn to CD/DVD (maybe 30-60 minutes?). But, it works, it’s cool, and having a UBCD around can prove quite useful!
Inspiron 530 Bios Update
UBCD4win Ultimate Boot CD Creation Instructions:
Dell 530 Bios Update
Click here to be whisked away, and view instructions.